This was a fun draft. I think it would be cool to read people's draft strategies, comments, occurrences where a player got picked right before you were going to take him, etc.

I will start this thread off.

Pick 1 - Cardinals
John Tudor was the obvious pick here. Not much to think about.

Pick 2 - Tigers
Scherzer was a consideration, but I felt I could get other SP's equal or better than Scherzer. Miguel Cabrera was the obvious choice. Although 3B is a scarcer position, I don't like his defense there, so I'm playing him at 1B. And yes, I know there are a ton of good hitting 1B available later.

Pick 3 - Rangers
I was hoping Ivan Rodriguez would make it, but alas, he went #2. So I went back and forth between Nolan Ryan and Josh Hamilton. I know OF's are a dime a dozen, but I just didn't think Ryan was worth a 3rd round pick here.

Pick 4 - Dodgers
Dodgers were skipped in round 2, so I got the third pick. I was crossing my fingers, hoping I'd get either Greinke or Kershaw... but knew that was a pipe dream. I was planning on taking Kevin Brown the entire time, then at the last minute switched to Mike Piazza due to his #1 ranking among all catchers. I hate Piazza and he always underachieves for me in the sim. Hopefully, against all modern pitchers, he earns his $9M salary.

Pick 5 - White Sox
Ugh. Don't like any of the players here. Albert Belle seemed like the obvious choice, but he's too much like Piazza - a right-handed hitting power hitter. Those are a dime a dozen in the sim. We'll grab the low-IP stud Jack McDowell.

Pick 6 - Expos
At this point of the draft, I had really done no research or looked at the owner/franchise grid in depth. So I decided to build a spreadsheet that shows every team's pick within each franchise, so I could map out my strategy. I figured out which players I was likely to get at each future round. This helped immensely. I thought about Vlad Guerrero here, but for the same reason I didn't take Belle, I passed and grabbed one of my favorite sim relievers, Tim Burke.

Pick 7 - Astros
I knew I was going to take a starting pitcher here (although had Berkman slipped to me, I would've had a tough decision). I struggled between J.R. Richard's great short season or a SP. I decided to go with Nolan Ryan and his ultra-low HR season. I'm surprised Knepper went ahead of him.

Pick 8 - Athletics
I was absolutely taking either Mike Norris or Tim Hudson as my SP3 - didn't matter which one I got. Both fell to me and I grabbed Mike Norris.

Pick 9 - Mets
Back in round 6, I planned on taking either David Wright or Howard Johnson with this pick (the Mets were skipped in rounds 6-7 so I knew I'd get either). Both were available and I went with David Wright because I knew there was a SS I could get later.

Pick 10 - Blue Jays
The Blue Jays had a lot of great options to choose from in my spot. Olerud, Halladay, Eichhorn and the guy I ultimately drafted - Roberto Alomar. I was thrilled to get a switch hitting middle infielder with a .400+ OBP here.

Pick 11 - I had Daniel Hudson penciled in here (I love short inning SP's to use as relievers). Alas, he went one pick in front of me. So we grabbed a pinch hitter (and spot starter for Hamilton), David Dellucci.

Pick 12 - Cubs
I was all set to take Aroldis Chapman (his 29-inning Cubs partial), but then Rattlers grabbed him. I decided on another low-IP SP, Rich Harden. Then Rattlers changed his pick when he realized he didn't get to use the combined version. I decided to stick with Rich Harden.

Pick 13 - Royals
I had David Cone penciled in as my SP4, but he got picked RIGHT in front of me. Ouch! I thought about Larry Gura, but decided I could do better. I really thought about taking Carlos Beltran, but knew there were still better OF options later. Went a safe route, with Dennis Rasmussen (over traditional RP's like Greg Holland)

Pick 14 - Brewers
I originally penciled in C.C.Sabathia and he went RIGHT in front of me. Two in a row. Really considered Trevor Hoffman, but went for another low-IP SP, Cal Eldred. Maybe I can piece together three low-IP guys as my fourth SP.

Pick 15 - Rockies
I had Carlos Gonzalez targeted here since round 6. Got my second OF. His OBP isn't great, but his average and slugging are strong and he's a lefty bat, which I needed.

Pick 16 - Once Chisock grabbed Tim Salmon with the Angels pick in round 14, I knew I had my SP4 (no Angels pick in rd 15). His raw numbers don't look dominant, but he always does well for me. Mike Witt.

Pick 17 - Braves
For a long time, I had my eyes on Bernie Williams or Paul O'Neill as my 3rd OF, which is the main reason I passed on Beltran (KC). But not surprisingly, they went back to back in rounds 14-15. So after researching my alternatives, I came to the conclusion that Gary Sheffield was my best option.

Pick 18 - Marlins
This pick was a key for me. I had been targeting Hanley Ramirez here since round 6. And I knew based on which teams picked Marlins in front of me, and what positions they needed, I was very likely to get him (if he had gone early, I had a different SS targeted from one of the teams listed above.

Pick 19 - Yankees
Need another reliever. Tom Gordon is the choice here. Getting a sub-0.90 whip pitcher with this many innings, this late, seems like a good deal.

Pick 20 - Twins (updated)
This is likely the last >$1M player I will be taking. But since Piazza only has 633 PA, I figured I might as well get a decent backup. Josmil Pinto can hit and has an A+ arm.

Pick 21 - Rays (updated)
Grabbed a cheap scrub, Daniel Nava. A switch-hitter with a .364 OBP that costs only $313K isn't too bad.

Pick 22 - Red Sox (updated)
I will be grabbing my last pitcher here. He's only got 29 innings, but you gotta love Rich Hill and his 0.69 whip.

Pick 23 - Reds (updated)
Just grabbing pinch hitters at this point. I am very happy to get a switch hitter who bats .365 for under $1M. Give me Pete Rose.

I now have my starting lineup (plus backups/pinch hitter) and 101 pitchers.

C - Mike Piazza .362 / .431 / .638 (Pinto .342 / .398 / .566)
1B - Miguel Cabrera .344 / .448 / .586
2B - Roberto Alomar .326 / .408 / .492
3B - David Wright .325 / .416 / .546
SS - Hanley Ramirez .342 / .410 / .543
OF - Josh Hamilton .359 / .411 / .633 (Dellucci .394 / .463 / .505)
OF - Carlos Gonzalez .336 / .376 / .598
OF - Gary Sheffield .330 / .419 / .604
PH = Pete Rose .365 / .430 / .458
Total Hitting Stats: .340 / .415 / .571

SP - John Tudor 274 IP / 0.94 whip / 0.46 hr/9
SP - Nolan Ryan 220 IP / 1.12 whip / 0.12 hr/9
SP - Mike Norris 285 IP / 1.05 whip / 0.57 hr/9
SP - Mi.ke Witt 269 IP / 1.08 whip / 0.74 hr/9
RP - Tim Burke 91 IP / 0.89 whip / 0.30 hr/9
RP - Tom Gordon 90 IP / 0.88 whip / 0.50 hr/9
RP - Rich Harden 71 IP / 0.97 whip / 0.76 hr/9
RP - Cal Eldred 101 IP / 0.99 whip / 0.36 hr/9
RP - Jack McDowell 28 IP / 0.79 whip / 0.32 hr/9
RP - Dennis Rasmussen 34 IP / 0.82 whip / 0.00 hr/9
RP - Rich Hill 29 IP / 0.66 whip / 0.62 hr/9
Total Pitching Stats: 1496 IP, 0.99 whip, 0.48 hr/9

OK I'll give it a try............................................................................................................
Cat- Ivan Rodriguez Marlins Rd 07 Cabrera/Dee Dee was tempting but happy w/ IROD
1B - Albert Pujols Cards Rd 03 Lots of years to choose from if salary cap problems
2B - Ryne Sandberg Cubs Rd 10 see above......would of been Bryant if not 4 Donaldson
3B - Josh Donaldson B Jays Rd 08 knowing I'd get RS Clemens next easy pick
SS - Cal Ripken Orioles Rd 02 Ripken or Britton Ripken will play 162
OF - Tim Raines W Sox Rd 11 Needed leadoff player with SB's
OF - Bernie Williams Yanks Rd 14 He's available Rd 14 R U kidding?
OF - Johnny Damon Royals Rd 16 needed last position player Beltran or NICE!
SP - Pedro Martinez Expos Rd 01 wow Harper Scherzer or Pedro it was tough!!
SP - David Price Tampa Bay Rd 04 almost went for Crawford here glad I waited
SP - Cliff Lee Phillies Rd 06 Lee, Schilling, Hamel any would work at time
SP - Roger Clemens Red Sox Rd 09 R U Kidding lucky me at this point
SP - Burt Hooton Dodgers Rd 18 Not Planned but Realized most owners going w/ 5 starters
SP - Rollie Fingers Brewers Rd 05 LuCroy or Fingers? Lots of great innings
RP - Glen Perkins Twins Rd 12 The pursuit for my bull pen begins
RP - Felix Rodriguez Giants Rd 13 good bullpens choices here hope this was a good one
RP - Cody Allen Indians Rd 15 Actually will now change out his best year for chance to grab Franco's pricy year
RP - Pat Venditte A's Rd 19 Played w/Pat, his dad & my son in father/son W Series Phoenix
RP -John Franco Reds Rd 20 Will now be my closer over Cody Allen
Util- Gregg Jefferies Mets Rd 17 Good Switch hitter PH for price
Util- Todd Hollandsworth- Colo Rd 21 slugging monster at price, last piece I wanted 4 sure
Util- Rusty Ryal Diamondbacks RD 22 more than half his hits were for extra bases might get a few late walk offs!
Util- Phil Nevin Tigers Rd 23 Another power hitter off the bench and fills in at Cat 3b and OF Defense stinks thou
RP- Mike Montgomery Mariners Rd 24 Fits in after swapping Pujol's best season for another great one anyway
Util- Chris Gimenez Rangers Rd 25 Changed at last minute, needed a catcher to spell IROD a couple games
for once I Tried to have a solid bench where I used to just pretty much had $200K+ subs. Will see if it pays off

Round	Club	Pick	Comments
1	Athletics	Jason Giambi	Always like to get a couple of big lefty bats and Giambi seems to me like a prototype #3
2	Mets	Dwight Gooden	Was expecting Pedro here, but happy to grab an extra 50 IP
3	Indians	Roberto Alomar	Love switch hitters in the sim, so couldn't go past Alomar even though I usually go for better D in the infield
4	Pirates	Brian Giles	Giles probably a bit of a reach in round 4, but wasn't excited by other Pirates bats and when I saw what was available in my next two picks I decided to grab him over a pitcher
5	Dodgers	Kevin Brown	I was keen to round out most of rotation early before the best pitchers disappeared
6	Royals	Kevin Appier	As above
7	Rockies	Neifi Perez	There were much better bats availble here but, again, switch hitter and filled my SS spot with a bit of AB flexibility
8	Cardinals	Scott Rolen	Not that excited about this pick, but hard to argue with the hitting/fielding combo I guess
9	Reds	Kevin Mitchell	One of the biggest bats in the era and balances well with Giambi. Poor defence but I'll hide him in RF.
10	Giants	Robb Nen	Probably got a bit distracted here by all the RPs flying off the board. Still, despite giving up a few too many homers a decent start to my bullpen. I was originally planning on Buster here but while I haven't looked as far ahead as you Schwarze I did check to see who was picking Cubs before me and they all had C's already
11	Yankees	Rich Gossage	Had pencilled in either O'Neill or Bernie here but decided to grab Gossage and take Ichiro next once I knew he was going to be available
12	Mariners	Ichiro Suzuki	I often try to think about how I'm going to set up my lineup on the way through and saw Ichiro fitting nicely into either the 1 or 2 slot
13	Cubs	Rick Wilkins	I like Wilkins' bat/A+ arm and good number of PA's for a value L/R platoon at C
14	Twins	Craig Breslow	I often go for a lot of low IP good arms rather than a few higher IP guys
15	Blue Jays	Aaron Sanchez	As above
16	Rangers	Jonathan Lucroy	Rounding out the platoon at C
17	Orioles	Bob Milacki	Great addition for closer committee and the ultimate playoff spot starter haha
18	Tigers	Doyle Alexander	Great long relief or cover in case all the SPs in the distance that I've targeted end up going before I get to them
19	Rays	Tony Graffanino	Useful infield backup
20	Angels
21	Diamondbacks
22	Nationals
23	Astros
24	Red Sox
25	Brewers

1. Marlins - SP - Kevin Brown - Always need quality SP early, lucky to have the Marllins first.
2. Cardinals - 1B - Mark McGwire - Couldn't pass up 70 HR and the OBP but considered Willie McGee who does it all.
3. Mets - P - Matt Harvey - Really wanted Gooden but he went right before me.
4. Orioles - 2B - Roberto Alomar - Like his OBP and that he switch hits, not thrilled with the glove.
5. Phillies - 3B - Mike Schmidt - Can't believe my luck with this one. I got the Phils 3rd in the 5th but I'd have taken him in the 1st.
6. Astros - SP - Bob Knepper - I went round and round on this one, literally hours. I love Nolan Ryan here but the price differential and the lack of LH SP looking down draft led me to Knepper. It's a risk that may hurt me but the salary uncertainty finalized my choice.
7. Braves - OF - JD Drew - With a RH 1B I wanted to get some good LH bats before they started disappearing. Like his OBP.
8. Padres - RP - Cla Meredith - My first real RP. Always does well for me with that 0.71 WHIP.
9. Rangers - RP - Joe Nathan - Looked at other options but nothing thrilled me. Mixed results but he should compete here.
10. Mariners - RP - Arthur Rhodes - Looked at others, including Ichiro but his OBP is a let down. Wanted a good LH RP while I could get him.
11. Blue Jays - P - Roy Halladay - Couldn't believe Olerude was still available here. Would have taken McGee in rnd 2 if I could have forseen that. Oh well, got a decent pitcher... I hope.
12. Nationals - OF - Larry Walker - Another very tough call for me. Liked Andre Dawson here with his power, speed and A+ glove but he is a righty and I wanted lefty OF. Walker has decent pop with a lot of doubles that should help me.
13. Diamondbacks - RP - Brad Ziegler - Whoever he is. Honestly, don't recall ever seeing him used but I didn't like anything I saw. I was thinking Miguel Montero but he went right before me.
14. Rays - RP - Alex Torres - Was excited to get a 2nd LH in the bullpen and one I consider top-notch.
15. Yankees - OF - Paul O'Neill - I had been watching this one for several rounds. I figured I would get my 3rd OF here and saw that Henderson, Williams and O'Neill were still available several picks out. I wanted either Henderson or Williams as I needed CF but of course they went in the two rounds before me. But hey, .359 .460 .603 in the 15th round? Can't complain.
16. White Sox - C/PH - Ron Hassey - Good PH and some catching innings filled. Still needed C and SS at this point but knew I would fill SS in Rnd 19 with the Pirates.
17. Royals - RP - Greg Holland - Looked at everything but nothing thrilled me and still needed to fill out the bullpen. Happy to get 0.87 WHIP and 67 IP.
18. Reds - SP - Danny Jackson - Sometimes drafts are like this. You end up with mediocrity somewhere. Good innings and another LH.
19. Pirates - SS - Freddy Sanchez - Planned this for several rounds. Looked around and figured I could get Jay Bell or Sanchez. I like Bell's glove but he seems to under-perform at the plate. Sanchez with his high AVG and 2B fits my lineup well. Should drive in a lot of runs batting 7th.

Love reading these. Hope others post.

Round 1 Reds - Barry Larkin
As soon as I saw I had the Reds in Rd 1 Larkin was my guy. He's always good for me and is a top guy at a premium position

Round 2 Twins - Johan Santana
When the draw first came out I was trying to figure out where I'd get pitching after taking Larkin/Mauer, but then Schwarze pointed out that my number had 2 first picks so I knew I'd get Santana to anchor my rotation since I rarely pass on an ace in this type of draft.

Round 3 Giants - Jason Schmidt
Upon studying the draft board I found that there was no 2nd round pick for the Giants so my draft board was Bonds and Schmidt. At the last minute I considered Posey, but couldn't pass up on a LH/RH 1-2 punch of top pitchers.

Round 4 Expos - Tim Raines
This one was easy. I figured Pedro, Scherzer, Harper, and Raines would be the top 4 and I'd just take whoever was left and it happened to be Raines. I considered a million different things to do after this round based on hitter or pitcher, but never considered any other players.

Round 5 Rangers - Rafael Palmeiro
Pudge was my first choice and then Nolan Ryan. I knew I wouldn't get Pudge, but thought I had a good chance at Ryan. Once he went I was ready to take Zimmerman, but I took one last look at the board and available Rangers and made decided I couldn't pass up his combo of obp/slugging especially with the low K's.

Round 6 A's - Andrew Bailey
I had Bailey penciled in from the beginning. He's always been good for me and is solid across the board. For the briefest of moments I toyed with a Henderson/Raines combo at the top, but he was taken one round before me so I stuck with Plan A for the A's.

Round 7 D'Backs - Dan Haren
This is the one I'll probably regret the most. Had I know who'd be available later I would've grabbed Daniel Hudson here. Overall Haren's numbers are good. I just hope that nobody is on base when he starts giving up bombs.

Round 8 Phillies - Curt Schilling
My heart was broken one round earlier when Utley was taken. My whole drafting strategy hinged on Utley here and an Astros SP at 11. When Utley was taken I decided to take either Schilling or Hamels and sweat out an Astros 2B (spoiler alert: that worked out!). I decided to go with Schilling because of his ridiculous K's in this K happy era.

Round 9 Pirates - Tony Watson
I identified this spot early as somewhere where I'd take a LH reliever and Watson was my top guy. The only 2 players I would've changed that strategy for were Bonds and Kendall who were both long gone.

Round 10 Padres - Ken Caminiti
I had 3B pegged here for about 6 rounds, but figured I'd have to settle for Sheffield or talk myself into Headley (I couldn't and would've take a RP). I was so happy that Caminiti was here as a SH with good OBP and power and solid D. It was my most pleasant surprise!

Round 11 Astros - Craig Biggio
My earlier gamble paid off and I was happy to grab Biggio who is a consistently solid performer for me and a good speed/power guy like Larkin in the MIF.

Round 12 Rockies - Steve Reed
Gabe White was my guy here forever and always and I was very upset when he was taken a couple of rounds earlier. I gave a lot of consideration to taking a bench guy here, but decided to grab some quality RP innings since I wasn't really sure what would be available later and didn't want to pass on a sub-1 whip guy for uncertainty.

Round 13 O's - Brady Anderson
I had Brady targeted here for about 5 rounds and couldn't even bring myself to look at other options. I love his combo of bombs from the left side and outfield D.

Round 14 Angels - Tim Salmon
I didn't think there was any possible way Salmon would be here and I was trying fully prepared to take a reliever here and hope some of the Yankees OF's lasted (they didn't). I don't know if it was his $8 mil price tag or what, but I know that he did really well for me in one of Schwarze's draft leagues in a similar time period and he has surprisingly good D so I was happy to have him complete my OF and provide some RH pop in the middle of the order.

Round 15 Brewers - Mark Loretta
I just punted this pick after Eldred and Sabathia got picked. I knew at this point that I had a lot of good relief options in later rounds so I saved some cash.

Round 16 Mariners - Kaz Sasaki
At this point I needed a Catcher and RP's. I already knew I'd be getting my catcher for sure next round so I picked up another sub-1 whip RP. Really that simple.

Round 17 Indians - Victor Martinez
This is where paying attention to everybody else's picks paid off as I new a couple rounds before that everybody picking before me had a big name catcher and with no DH I knew Victor would be waiting for me. His OBP is bringing my lineup down, but a switch hitting catcher with power and a decent arm at the bottom or my lineup? Yes please!

Round 18 Yankees - Ron Guidry
Once I completed my OF I had Tom Gordon targeted here, but as it got closer I noticed that there was a decent Guidry season still siting out there. I decided on him to give me the option of spot starting against lefty heavy lineups or take over for Dan Haren if he goes to crap like I fear he will. If nothing else, it doesn't hurt to have a quality long man.

Round 19 Red Sox - Hideki Okajima
The plan was to take a RP here and at 20 with the Royals. Since all the good Royals RP available were RH I took Okajima simply because he was the best left and I wanted 2 if I had to move Guidry to the rotation.

Round 20 Royals - Kelvin Herrera
Another solid reliever to add to the collection. I considered Montgomery, but I'm creeping up on the cap so I decided to save a million bucks.

R1 Tigers
I had 2 choices here, Justin Verlander and Max Scherzer. Not a huge difference but felt Verlander had the edge.

R2 Diamondbacks
This was a tough one. I seriously thought of taking Curt Schilling but felt this is going to be a league where there are going to be a lot of Home Run hitters. All of Schilling's DBack seasons are .9 or higher in HR/9. That pushed me away from him. I felt the other starting pitcher choices I could get comparable pitchers later. Then it was, do I take Paul Goldschmidt or Luis Gonzalez. Both 1B and OF are pretty easy to fill so I more or less flipped a coin.

R3 Brewers
I really wanted to shore up my rotation early. Teddy Higuera has done well for me in the past. The only other choice I felt would have been Prince Fielder and I already took Goldschmidt at 1B so Higuera it is.

R4 Yankees
No knock down Ace pitchers here so short of Mariano Rivera in relief it was going to be a hitter. Didn't think Rivera would fall to me but there's always a miracle happening somewhere, right? Wrong... I considered Paul O'Neill or Jorge Posada and went with Posada only because catcher is tougher to fill than outfield.

R5 Astros
Only 3 choices here at Starting Pitcher. Mike Scott is gone, Nolan Ryan has too high BB/9 for my liking and Roger Clemens who I had hoped would fall to R5 went in R4 to Vindex24. Back to selecting another hitter, Lance Berkman was an easy choice.

R6 Rays
Went with cookie Ben Zobrist at 2nd base. Didn't think too much about this pick.

R7 Mariners
Rafael Soriano here since I missed out on Rivera.

R8 Reds
Considered Mario Soto here and probably should have went with him but opted for Rob Dibble, I'm not sure why!

R9 Padres
Wanted Cla Meridith here but yeah, he went in round 8, got my 2nd choice Joaquin Benoit.

R10 Braves
Outfielder Dale Murphy here. Good power and OBP.

R11 Angels
Ok, getting time to fill my rotation, Bert Blyleven. Hope his higher OAV doesn't get him killed. Yeah, I'm thinking here that I probably should have went with Schilling and Soto.

R12 Mets
Still need another Starter. Bob Ojeda is as good or better than Blyleven. Maybe I'll get lucky and I'll get 1 more shot at a quality starter.

R13 Phillies
Jimmy Rollins at SS. Another power bat and decent fielder. He'll probably bat 8th.

R14 Orioles
Wanted Brady Anderson but of course he went 1 round earlier. Another arm for the bullpen, welcome Todd Frohwirth.

R15 Rangers
Still needing a 3rd baseman I had my eye on Adrian Beltre. Also looked ahead to my R16 pick from the Rockies. I was pretty sure schwarze wasn't going to take Vinny Castilla with his R15 pick since he already had David Wright so I opted for pinch-hitter/backup outfielder Jake Smolinski.

R16 Rockies
Ok, Vinny Castilla since I didn't take Beltre in R15. Another power bat and decent glove.

R17 White Sox
Here we go again, my first choice was backup catcher Ron Hassey but ybjsports takes him 1 round before me. I'll add another arm to the bullpen, Terry Leach.

R18 Pirates
And for the 4th time or is it 5 or 6? my pick goes right in front of me, Andy Van Slyke. I'll add a lefty, Mike Gonzalez to the bullpen.

R19 Indians
Have 1 position left to fill, a 3rd outfielder. I thought about this one a while. I liked Manny Ramirez's power but I don't really have a prototypical centerfielder. Maybe I should take Grady Sizemore instead for his defense. Ah, what the F&$@, I'll take another big bat with Manny.

R20 Cardinals
I could use another arm for the pen, went with Jason Isringhausen.

R21-25 will be fill in bench players.

In retrospect, I think I could have done better. I've got 4 switch-hitters and 4 righties in my lineup. All 8 can go deep with Posada being the weakest HR hitter at 20 in Real Life. My infield along with Posada all have A rated gloves. My weak point could be my outfield defense with C rated gloves and limited range. I'm Hoping their power will make up for it. I'm going with 4 starters in Verlander, Higuera, Blyleven and Ojeda. Not scary, but hopefully they can be good enough to keep games close enough for my hitters to carry me and the bullpen to close it out.

Round 1 Royals
I wanted to come out of the first four rounds with two quality starting pitchers and two power hitters who also had a high on-base percentage. With the Royals, Bret Saberhagen was the obvious pick.

Round 2 Yankees
I seriously considered both Bernie Williams and Paul O'Neill, but ARod and his 54 homers won out.

Round 3 Blue Jays
Since I was looking for a No. 4 hitter and Jose Bautista already was taken, I chose Carlos Delgado over John Olerud because of his edge in power.

Round 4 Reds
The Reds only had one starting pitcher I would have considered. Fortunately, Johnny Cueto was still available, so the first four rounds turned out as I'd hoped.

Round 5 Rockies
Not a difficult decision. DJ LeMahieu's great 2016 season couldn't be ignored.

Round 6 Braves
At some point, I wanted to pick a long reliever with a low WHIP. Even though I would have preferred to take a long reliever later in the draft, I selected Kris Medlen.

Round 7 Angels
The search for power-hitting, high-average OFs begins with Vlad Guerrero.

Round 8 Red Sox
After deciding that Jacoby Ellsbury was a little too expensive, I settled for RP Alex Wilson.

Round 9 Phillies
I've always had good luck with Carlos Ruiz. Before the draft started, I knew that the only way I wouldn't take him with this pick was if Mike Schmidt somehow was still available ... and that didn't happen.

Round 10 Diamondbacks
In the absence of any other positions players who fits my needs, I looked to the bullpen, where I came up with Daniel Hudson.

Round 11 Padres
Using the same logic as in Round 10, I picked Huston Street.

Round 12 Brewers
I had decided about six rounds earlier that if Ryan Braun was still on the board, I'd take him with this pick.

Round 13 Mets
Why settle for one version of Bret Saberhagen when you can have two?

Round 14 Cubs
I almost pulled the trigger on Jeff Samardzija even though the fourth starter I really wanted was Fernando Valenzuela in Round 16. I finally decided to take versatile sub Chris Coghlan and hope that Fernando didn't get picked in Round 15.

Round 15 Twins
With a .341 average and outstanding defense, Mike Redmond is a solid backup catcher.

Round 16
Pleased that Fernando Valenzuela was still on the board.

Round 17 A's
This late in the draft, I felt fortunate to get Miguel Tejada, a decent defensive shortstop who hit 34 home runs in the season I selected.

Round 18 Astros
A number of quality 'Stros relievers were available. I went with Octavio Dotel.

Round 19 Marlins
My starting lineup was completed with Giancarlo Stanton. All three starting outfielders (Stanton, Braun, Guerrero) hit more than 30 homers and compiled an on-base percentage above .390.

The rest of the draft will focus on the the bench and the bullpen.

Current thinking on basic lineup:

1. S 2B Alomar .328 .411 .527
2. L CF Drew .305 .436 .569
3. R 1B McGwire .299 .470 .752
4. L RF O'Neill .359 .460 .603
5. R 3B Schmidt .316 .435 .644
6. L LF Walker .322 .394 .587
7. R SS Sanchez .344 .378 .473
8. S C Kreuter .286 .371 .484

Wow, that 3-4-5 of McGwire, O'Neal and Schmidt is pretty scary.

Here is my starting lineup... not as scary as yours in the middle, but strong all the way down to #8.
.
1. R - Hanley Ramirez .342 .410 .543
2. S - Roberto Alomar .326 .408 .492
3. R - Miguel Cabrera .344 .448 .586
4. R - Mike Piazza .362 .431 .638
5. L - Josh Hamilton .359 .411 .633
6. R - Gary Sheffield .330 .419 .604
7. L - Carlos Gonzalez .336 .376 .598
8. R - David Wright .325 .416 .546

Here is mine
1. SS -Switch Tim Raines .294 .380 .405 46 sb's
2. LF - Left Johnny Damon .327 .382 .495 45 sb's
3. 1B - Right Albert Pujols .331 .415 .657 46 hr's
4. 3B - Right Josh Donaldson .297 .371 .568 41 hr's
5. CF - Switch Bernie Williams .342 .435 .536 25 hr's
6. SS - Right Cal Ripken .323 .374 .566 34 hr's
7. 2B - Right Ryne Sandberg .314 .367 .520 32 sb's
8. CA - Right Ivan Rodriguez .297 .369 .474 16 hr's
doesn't match up as nice as Schwartz & Sports but I might have a little more speed and my fielders are all A's and B's
in both fielding and range. 1.04 total Whip and 2.14 ERA for pitching staff
I really went more for defense and pitching. Nice job you guys, love reading everyone's analysis!

Going with:
1.C - Jorge Posada .338 .426 .543 - 20HR
2.CF - Lance Berkman .331 .430 .620 - 34HR
3.LF - Manny Ramirez .333 .442 .663 - 44HR
4.1B - Paul Goldschmidt .321 .435 .570 - 33HR
5.3B - Vinny Castilla .319 .362 .589 - 46 HR
6.RF - Dale Murphy .295 .417 .580 - 44HR
7.2B - Ben Zobrist .297 .405 .543 - 27HR
8.SS - Jimmy Rollins .296 .344 .531 - 30HR

Here were my thoughts...
Round 1 Rockies - Thought about either Helton or Walker. Figured I would be able to get another stud outfielder. I was wrong. You guys picked numerous outfielders the round before I wanted them.
Round 2 Royals - George Brett is awesome, but he is expensive. I needed a starter and Greinke was the choice.
Round 3 Twins - Joe Mauer.
Round 4 Astros - I was hoping Clemens would fall here. I would have taken Don Sutton next maybe, I didn't want to take Bagwell and put him in left. Bergman was a possibility.
Round 5 Giants - Not crazy about any of the SPs here for the 5th round value. Beck will begin my bullpen.
Round 6 - Pirates - Wanted Brian Giles (SPOILER ALERT ON OUTFIELDERS BEING TAKEN 1 ROUND BEFORE MY PICK) - Reuschel good innings, low walks, low hr/9.
Round 7 - Reds - Chapman vs Choo. Chapman too good to pass up.
Round 8 - Diamondbacks - Not a lot of value here, but Hill is a two way player.
Round 9 - Blue Jays - Would have taken Olerud here and Walker in the 1st round if I would have known. Liked Alomar, but not the range. Took Moseby because I my developing outfield dilemma.
Round 10 - Mets - Planned on Oneida, but Johnson and Wright kept falling. Decided to take whoever was left.
Round 11 - Tigers - Let's Pick Tony Phillips to be an outfielder or 2nd baseman. He gone. Best available arm. Doug Fister.
Round 12 - White Sox - Magglio or Dye. Don't like guys who don't walk and neither of them walks much.
Round 13 - Brewers - Sabathia. No way, I get to pick somebody I had planned on picking.
Round 14 - Marlins - The legend Tim Spooneybarger. He always does a good job for me and he is cheap. I did not like any of the other values, maybe Hanley Ramirez, but HoJo can't play 3rd.
Round 15 - Cubs - Chapman is too good. Thought about Bryant too.
Round 16 - Yankees - Let's see. Henderson gone, Williams gone, and O'neill gone in three straight rounds. So much for the outfielder again. Boggs has good value and can play defense too.
Round 17 - Red Sox - Papelbon. If I can't get any outfielders, I am going to have to have an awesome bullpen and try to win tight games.
Round 18 -Nationals - Guillickson. Low walks and hr/9. Is he really the Roy Halliday of 1981?
Round 19 - Mariners - Heavy Hitten Mark Whitten. Hey, I have a back up outfielder.
Round 20 - Braves - I'm gonna get Sheffield. I'm gonna get Sheffield. I'M NOT GONNA GET SHEFFIELD. SURPRISE! Lonnie Smith.
Round 21 - Rangers - Wanted Gonzalez. Guess What? Gone. I'll take the best arm - Butcher.
Round 22 - Rays - Ordonez, in case HoJo has too much of a range problem.
Round 23 - Phillies - Wanted Papelbon. Team would have been called Dos Chapmans y Papelbons. Guess What? He is gone too. I need Pratt, but I want another catcher. Horst as a LH specialist.
Round 24 - Athletics - Yes! I got my pick actually. A back up catcher. Melhuse.
Round 25 - Angels - Rob Quinlan. Platoon be lefty at third and versatility.

I wanted to bash and have a low hr/9 team. I couldn't get any outfielders, so I went to the doubles and bullpen theory. I have good range everywhere, but Hojo and the corner outfielders. My bullpen is outstanding on paper. My entire staff does not give up HRs. I am hoping to hit a lot of HRs versus low whip high HR pitchers and then close games strong.

I really enjoyed this draft because BHeid did an excellent job and you guys made me really think: change my theory and who I wanted to draft several times. I would like to draft for another league too with the same bunch of owners.